Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-02-04
LIGHT ON MYSTERY $ !.
A WAR CORRESPONDENT AppARENrs
~ WOUNDED UNTO DEATH.

A WAR ORRESPoNDEAT ApPARsNTs
" WOUNDED UNTO DEATH.
How He Felt and What He Thousht
While Falling Into the "Unknown
Hereafter'.-A Curious Experience-An
Error Corrected. i
had an experience which may throw |
some light on the mystery which gathers |
about the diving. An expedition led by |
Sveepy. the one armed regular officer,
aaa consisting of cavalry, infantry and
artillery. was sent out to destroy Con-
fedcrate depot Of clothing and provisions.
The cavalry was put well I'm advance as
VIC neared the point, and finally, when
within striking distance, charge was
ordered into the town. ] went In with
the troopers and suddenly found myself
in the midst of hot contest, In which
rebel shotyuns and rifles were playing o
prominent part Near the center OF the
nlace was a brick court house, into which
after little time I entered, partly be-
cause the shooting was very careless,
score of men and horses in my immediate
vicinity being hit and O stampede being
inau rurated by frantic animals, and
partly because It seemed that i could get i
better view Of the contest from the roof
of the building
/ assembled to the second floor and en-
tered large square room In whch were
heaped a large quantity Of clothing There
was I, table at which were seated two men
in Federal uniform, who were engaged In
examining some papers.
NV wearing apperel was much dllapi-
dated and l concluded to make an ex-
change. selected pair of trousers from
the pile and q pGir OF saddle bags, md
then proceeded to make change OF gar
ments. had the new trousers partly on
when the building suddenly shivered as Il
struck by an earthquake. there was sim
ultaneously a deafening explosion, rat
Ting of shattered glass, while the room
became filed with flying particles Of
| brick and mortar. - ,5sJ,..
"a she'll. by -r' roared one of the
| men, as he tipped over backward, over
| turning the table, then scrambled to his
feet and ran toward the stairway, fol-
lowed by his companion. Il clung to the
saddle bags and the half adjusted gar
ments and fastened after them as fast as
INV semi -bandaged condition would per-
NIT la ,stC7
| KNOCKED SENSELESS. 5-
| reached the head of the staircase in
time to see the others descending in great
leans to the bottom and then disappear
through the door. ! had descended two
or three steps when there came another
explosion which seemed to be directly
at the back of my head. Broad belts OF
vivid crimson filled my line Of vision, and
then lost consciousness. A little later.
recovered my mental condition and found
myself lying at the foot of the stairway.
A pool Of blood lay about my head and
saturated my clothing. A frightful weak
ness possessed me, and there'was q savage
main in the back of my head. With inn
mense exertion struggled to my fee,
after falling two or three times, and then
kept myself upright by leaning against
the janb of the doorway, a
It seemed to me that was dying A
mortal languor possessed me, and l felt
that in q moment or two should drop to
the floor dead. cannot truthfuliy state
that at this supreme moment all my past
life flashed before me, as il recorded in SO
many excellent books concerning death
, bed scenes. Nothing Of this kind oc-
CURED. had no particular consciousness
. apart from the languor, the pain and
i, curious sinking feeling about the heart.
, recall what appears to have been dim
species Of wonder as to what those at home
would think when they heard OF my death.
None of the good nor bad deeds OF my life
passed before me in that moment. The
e space about mo grew into blueness, and
then gradually changed into dense black
8 As it did so, my strength left me. sank
E to the floor, my last remembrance beine
: | A. x1.a< 4 oloxrIx
dropping into infinite space. ~.
T This faint remembrance, these dim sen
: sations, this sinking away, ! thought was
e death. Had actually died would have
experienced no other feeling.
n RECOVERED CONSCIOUSNESS.
When again recovered consciousness
e was lying with a bandaged head on
G bench in the court house. An hour latel
e was on a horse and moving on the return
: march. / chung all through the occur
k renee to the trousers and saddle bags.
: After the cavalry had entered the town
: word was sent back to n section of artil
|. lery in the rear with order to its officer t,
j hurry up and bring his pieces to bear OF
the town. The officer was Lieut.. Georg
r Sokalski who was quite deaf, and whit
, understood the order to be to s.fire'' on tn
town. He did so, and the court hous
/, being the most conspicuous object, b
selected it for a target for shell practice
The second of his missiyes exploded jus
behind me, and gave Ine my first expert
u ence as to the sensations of death. s.
saw many men die during the war, an
d In no case was there anything. distressing
d in the occurrence. When man was hit
IT and believed the wound 10 be q deadl
% ono he pavar grew excited nor frauti